Bold basketball predictions for 2023: Raptors make a splash as trade deadline buyers

Another year of hoops is just about in the books and in many ways it was a return to normalcy for basketball.

The NBA playoffs had sold-out arenas, the Golden State Warriors once again won it all for their fourth title in eight seasons, the off-season was as chaotic as ever with a few big names changing teams, and though it’s still around, we didn't hear nearly as much about health and safety protocols as we did the last two years.

Hopefully this forward momentum can keep going into next year with not only more of what was normal before but also some new, exciting twists (in a positive way) during the roundball calendar.

Here are four bold predictions for basketball in 2023.

Kicking things off with the international game, 2023 is a significant year for FIBA because the World Cup will play from Aug. 25-Sept. 10 in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.

Canada has already qualified for the event, finishing atop its group during the qualifiers with a perfect 10-0 record.

The World Cup of Basketball isn’t the World Cup of soccer, which has far more prestige associated with it, but it’s still an important international competition, not only because it’s a world championship, but because the results can tie directly into Olympic qualification.

Specifically, in Canada's case, two automatic Americas region berths into the Paris 2024 Games are on the line at the World Cup. The top two finishers from the Americas region will earn those automatic spots, and we say one of them will be Canada.

Led by legitimate star NBA talent in the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Jamal Murray, R.J. Barrett, Bennedict Mathurin and Shaedon Sharpe (and maybe even Andrew Wiggins), it’s hard not to get excited about what could be possible.

Yes, there's always the issue with players committing to the national team, but Canada’s as talented a basketball nation as any country out there outside of the United States, so why can’t Canada hit the podium at the World Cup and use that as a launch pad to its first Olympic berth since the men’s program played in 2000?

It all starts with a little belief.

Turning attention to something more immediate, the NBA trade deadline for the 2022-23 season is coming up on Feb. 9 and the Toronto Raptors figure to be a team of interest as the date draws nearer.

The Raptors appear to be a team stuck in the middle. They have talent, but it’s unclear if it’s actually enough to see them take that next step. And given where they are in the standings, while it might be too late to bottom out and make a run at Victor Wembanyama in the lottery, they could still get themselves into a better draft position and look towards the future.

On the other hand, it’s not a bad idea to look to reinforce the existing talent Toronto has on its roster right now. Making a push to improve this season isn’t out of the realm of possibility, either.

Both paths the Raptors are staring down are viable and the one Toronto will take is the latter.

Ignoring what it might take to acquire any of these guys, here are some targets the Raptors could consider to help themselves: Grayson Allen, Bojan Bogdanovic, Robert Covington, Jae Crowder, Eric Gordon, Kelly Oubre Jr., Jakob Poeltl, Duncan Robinson, Terrence Ross and Myles Turner.

None of these players are superstars but they can be impact pieces, which is what Toronto needs, particularly in terms of shooting and size.

With Pascal Siakam enjoying one of the best individual seasons in franchise history and competitors like Fred VanVleet still on the roster, management owes it to give these guys a chance by going out and adding a key piece at the deadline.

This doesn’t sound very bold, but when you consider the fact only three other players have accomplished this feat – Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Larry Bird – and names such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar haven’t, then you might see where we’re coming from with this.

Nikola Jokic has a very strong case to win MVP once again. He’s the best player on what could end up being the Western Conference’s best team, is scoring more efficiently than before and could average a triple-double this season.

At the rate he’s going, the only reason Jokic won’t win for a third straight time is because of “voter fatigue.” The intangible thing that probably cost Jordan, James and Abdul-Jabbar from making this exclusive list.

Voter fatigue shouldn’t exist, though. The MVP trophy – now named the Michael Jordan Trophy – should go to the most valuable player in the league.

His name is Nikola Jokic.

Thanks to Julius Randle playing like an all-star again and Tom Thibodeau finding some magic with a shortened rotation, the New York Knicks have played pretty well so far this season.

We’re going to take it a step further and say the Knicks will play well the entire season and not only make the playoffs – as a No. 6 seed or better avoiding the play-in tournament – but win a round.

The scenario for this happening likely has New York as a scrappy sixth seed taking on its cross-town rival Brooklyn Nets. Obviously, Brooklyn is the more talented team, but the risk of injury or an off-court issue makes the Nets a veritable powder keg that’s more likely to explode when the pressure of the post-season hits. When it does, it’ll give an opportunity for the Knicks to steal the series.